evan "Warbirds" Olzem
Q: What is your name and how would you best describe your profession?
"My name is Evan Olzem and I am a professional Valorant Coach and Analyst."
Q: What are the key components of being a professional esports athlete?
"I think dedication and drive are the two most important components in being a professional esports athlete. Everyone wants to be a professional gamer, but few want to put in the work"
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Q: How do you feel esports measures up against traditional sports?
"I think esports measures pretty close to traditional sports. The viewership is already there, but it hasn't caught up in the West. In Asia, esports is their main sport. We put in the same amount of effort and similar resources: long days, multiple staff members, sports psychologists, etc."
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Q: Do you feel esports athletes can break the “nerd stigma”
"No lol"
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Q: It’s been shown creators and influencers can scale large companies, commodities, and corporations. How do you feel esports/gaming/ streaming sets up your future?
"I've always planned on being in video games as a profession. Originally I was on the developer side but got my opportunity to compete at the pro level. I'd probably be developing, in either games or coding, if it wasn't for esports."
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Q: Do you feel gaming brings out a different side of people then who they really are behind the screen?
"I think gaming brings out a different side of people. In person I'm pretty shy but I like to meet and hang out with people on my computer."
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Q: Assuming everyone is different how would you weight the mental health implication from gaming?
"I don't understand what this question means"
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Q: Do you think the younger age demographic helps or harms esports ability to grow into mainstream media
"I'd say the younger demographic helps the ability for esports to grow. When I was younger, gaming was a "waste of time" but now that esports has exploded in popularity, many parents are starting to recognize it as a possible career path."
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Q: Best esport athlete’s across all games?
"The best esports athletes to me are: Simple - Csgo, Yay - Valorant, Faker - League of Legends, MewtwoKing- Smash. I don't really know other games."
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We would like to thank Evan for sitting down with us. Check out his socials here :
